Neighbors
by PinkyWinky44
Summary: When Jane has taken a job in New York, Darcy gets a new apartment. Darcy originally counted on making the most of her stay in the noisy, smelly city. She didn't count on getting Captain America as her new neighbor. Acquaintances becomes friends, friends become best friends... maybe even more than friends? Definitely more than friends. [ShieldShock fanfic] Requests open
1. Meeting

Chapter One- Meeting

 _ **This is my first story! :) So I hope I get some support for this story. I was introduced to the Steve Rogers X Darcy Lewis ship by writer PheonixCawCaw and her Red Archer series (which is also MCU), and Starcy/Shieldshock it is my OTP. I seriously will follow this ship to my grave.**_

 _ **I'll stop talking about that before I get to far into it. Please enjoy the first chapter.**_

* * *

Setting the boxes down at the base of the stairs with a sigh, Darcy looked up the many floors she was about to climb to get to her new apartment.

Looking down at the series of boxes and then at the floor, her eyes shifted to the still waiting boxes. She huffed under her breath before picking up a couple and headed up.

Jane was taking a job at Stark Industries, using one of the spare labs that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner no longer needed. Darcy was still working as Jane's assistant, but now she was also assistants to Bruce and Tony. The feeling still dwelled on her though, that she would be doing Tony's bidding more than she cared to admit. That included making coffee and typing up his scribbles of ideas so that they were legible.

Several floors later she found her floor and stumbled around the turn before making her way up the final few stairs. Her feet got her up the final stairs and she went to walk down the hall when her foot caught and she flew forward.

"Fuckin jiminy cricket!" She yelled as she fell and caught herself on the railing. She noticed that someone caught the boxes before they spilled down the hall.

Darcy flipped her hair back over her head and looked up to see a tall blond holding out her boxes with a smile.

"God- I'm sorry," Darcy blurted out and quickly took the boxes. "Thank you. Sorry. My feet got tangled" She added quickly.

"That's ok ma'am, people seem to do it a lot. We've been trying to get that last stair fixed for a while now," He says with a smile and gestures behind her. Darcy turned and found the problem, seeing the stair rim cracked and had 'I'll make you fall on your face in front of a cute guy' written all over it.

She looked back to the man in front of her and looked at him for a brief second, taking in his neatly styled hair, broad shoulders, and she just knew he was hiding a muscular physique under that white undershirt and brown leather jacket. She could tell he had quite the boy next door type of feel.

"Uh- Thank you," The brunette gave him a smile.

"You're welcome," He said back before going past her and down the stairs. She walked down the hall and found the apartment number before pulling out her key and stuck it in the door.

Darcy's eyes circled around the apartment in front of her and she blew the strands of hair from her face before swinging the door open a little farther with her foot. Walking further into the apartment she placed the boxes down on the floor then stood up straight with a sigh.

"Two down, 16 to go," She mumbled to herself before walking back out.

~0000~

It might've taken an hour or two, but Darcy finally found herself sagging into the couch of the living room in her now stocked apartment.

"I should be paid for doing shit like this by myself," She mumbled to herself and stretched out along the couch.

Fishing around in her pocket she pulled out her phone and dialed a number before putting it to her ear.

" _Hey, are you moved in?_ "

"Yeah I am. Could've used the help Jane, I had to carry a shit load of boxes by myself," Darcy mumbled as she held the phone and moved onto her side.

" _Sorry but I was out with Thor,_ " She replies. The brunette merely rolled her eyes.

"You're big blond boyfriend shouldn't be as important as your BAE," Darcy tells her.

" _Bae?_ " Jane questions.

"Yeah, Best Assistant Ever," She says smugly and twirls a strand of hair using her finger. "I totally fit the title, considering how many coffee refills I've gotta you," She laughs.

" _Well it appears you managed on your own,_ " Jane sums up and muffled voices were heard as she took the phone away from her ear. "Meet any neighbors yet?" Jane asked. Darcy bit her lip and thought for a moment before grinning to herself.

"Well I almost fell on my face walking up the stairs and a tall; hot as hell blonde rescued my boxes before they spilled all over the floor." Darcy says and bites her finger with a smirk.

" _Mm, lucky you_ " Jane chuckled. " _What's his name?_ "

"No idea" Darcy shrugged. "I was too busy trying not to slap myself for the amazing first impression of falling up some stairs in front of a good looking guy,"

" _I'm sure you'll get it within the week,_ " Jane assures her slightly.

"The dude has to go to a gym. I only got a glimpse but he's gotta be hiding a 6 pack at least," Darcy says with confidence. "And his arms are seriously bigger than my head- God, Its seriously getting hot in here," Darcy breathed and pulled her shirt away from her stomach and shook it a bit before dropping it with a sigh.

" _Alright, you have fun dreamin about this guy,_ "

"Shut up," Darcy mumbled and rolled her eyes. They said their goodbyes before Darcy hung up and tossed her phone on the couch next to her as she sat up.

Minutes later after Darcy found herself falling into her new and made bed, snuggling under the covers before placing her glasses on the night table. Minutes ticked by before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

~0000~

It was only a couple hours later that Darcy's eyes were once again opening, yet this time it was much faster and she looked around cautiously as she sat up.

Seconds of silence went by before she heard another sound through her bedroom door and a small crash, as if things were being shifted and moved around.

"Is someone there?" She whispered, pulling her covers up and around her as she looked around the dark room and towards her door.

No response was given and Darcy found herself climbing out of bed with her Taser gun in hand as she slowly opened the door and peered out into the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

She couldn't hear much of anything for a moment before she began to walk out with a blanket wrapped around her and over her head, acting as protection.

"I'm warning you, I got a Taser and I'm not afraid to electrocute the shit outta whoever's in here," She made clear.

Her feet gentle touched the floor as she continued around and was heading around the couch when a sudden box was knocked off the table- that did it.

Seconds later Darcy found herself letting out a scream and scrambling towards her door. She unlocked it as quick as she could before falling into the hall and Darcy turned with another shriek and pulled the trigger on her Taser as she watched the figure that had just appeared jump and grunt in pain before falling to the hall floor.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at the man on the floor now unconscious and didn't move for what could've been hours before making a worried face and breathed out through clenched teeth. Her eyes widen when she realized it was the same man that caught her boxes.

"I just tasered my neighbor," She mumbled to herself before quickly walking over. Getting down on hands and knees before pulling herself closer and rested on the balls of her feet, Darcy let her knees touch the floor and pulled the probes from his chest.

"Neighbor!" She whisper/yelled before poking him a couple times. She waited a moment before quickly looking around. Darcy's eyes ventured back over to him and she took the opportunity to look him over again.

"You are seriously good looking, I would kiss you if I didn't have a smidgen of dignity left," she mumbled to herself before shaking him slightly.

"C'mon handsome, wake up!" She announced before shaking the collar of his undershirt and his eyes slowly opened before locking on her. His brow slowly furrowed before looking around, realizing he was on the floor.

"What happened," he mumbled and let his head hit the floor again as he closed his eyes, then they opened again. "Wait, did you just-"

"Taser you? Yeah I did," she says and places her hands on his stomach reassuringly as she apologized. "I am so really sorry for that I didn't see who was-, w-wow you- seriously have some rock hard abs man," She said somewhat to herself when she realized her hand was still lingering on his torso.

His face grew a little red as he slowly pushed himself up and shook his head a little to regain his senses as he sat up all the way.

"You ok?" She asked in a bit of a more worried tone, her hands now in her lap. He laughed before nodding.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it" He assured her. Darcy looked at him a bit longer before he cleared his throat. "I Uh- still don't know your name," He chuckled. "I'm Steve," He held out a hand awkwardly. She looked at it for a moment and quickly gave herself a mental punch before shaking his hand.

"Darcy Lewis," She smiled. "I uh, I'm your new neighbor," She added and tried to hide her embarrassment. He laughed before starting to get to his feet. She started to also before they both were stumbling up right. "A-Are you ok? I heard you scream, that's why I Uh, came out of my apartment" He says a bit nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"I kept hearing the noises in my apartment and I swear there's someone in there," She mumbled to herself before glancing back at her door.

"Want me to look?" Steve asked, a bit of concern washing over his face.

Darcy eyed him for a moment and thought for sure she was about to say 'yes please by all means come into my apartment at this hour and look around' but she said otherwise.

"No, don't worry bout it" She gave him a smirk and walked back to her door. "I got this handled," She says confidently. He raised an eyebrow before smirking slightly himself.

"You're sure?" He asked slowly and she nodded.

"Totally" She says before giving a nod. "Thank you for the help handsome, but I can assure you I don't need a knight in shining armor right now," She says and looks him over quickly before taking a peak into her apartment. She caught him smiling slightly to himself as he looked down and then at the wall before looking back at her with clear amusement.

"Call me Steve, and I can still give it a quick sweep if you want. I don't want to take any chances incase Ms. Jensen decides to come out looking for her cat again" He says with a chuckle before taking a couple steps closer.

"Dude, I just fucking tasered you," Darcy blurts out before looking back at him, seeing the way he cringed at her language. Maybe he isn't the cursing kinda guy? "I feel really bad and you're being surprisingly nice about it-... And you look untouched," She adds more so to herself. Steve shifted uncomfortably before coming up with a quick excuse.

"Retired Army vet," He says with a shrug. Darcy gives a big nod.

"Explains it then," She says and smiles a bit when there was a sudden crash and she jumped before turning to her door. "Ok, I think I'll go ahead and take you up on that offer Steve, you take the lead" She said somewhat nervously and took a couple steps back to allow him to enter.

He smiled and nodded and she watched his smile drop seconds later as he became serious and went full soldier mode as he slowly entered the apartment.

Darcy followed close behind and crossed her arms firmly from the slight chill.

Steve was tense as he walked through and looked around before Darcy walked up next to him.

"I don't see anyone," He says and glances around after he had inspected the rooms.

"Maybe I'm just paranoid" The brunette mumbled. "Sorry for wasting your time," She adds as she scratched the back of her head.

"You're fine ma'am," Steve replied and Darcy laughed a bit.

"That makes me sound like an old hag. Darcy works," She says. He looks down at her and hesitates before smiling and nodding. A sudden crash made them both jump and the brunette almost found herself latching onto the guy's arm but she kept her hands at bay as Steve slowly walked around the couch.

A meow was heard and Steve breathed a laugh as he knelt down to pick something up and Darcy slowly walked forward and her mouth opened as Steve stood back up with a cat in his arms.

"Found your intruder," Steve gave her a half smirk that made Darcy's stomach flutter as she walked forward and frowned.

"Well fuck, who does that belong to? It sure as hell isn't mine," Darcy says with a laugh.

"Ms. Jensen's cat Cappie" He explains and pets the black cats head.

"Ok, Jensen cat or not, get the little demon summoner out of my apartment please," She says before gesturing to her door.

Steve laughed and gave her a nod before walking towards the door. They walked out and Darcy stopped outside her door as Steve walked down the hall.

"Hey, sorry I tased you" She calls casually as he turned.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," He laughs as he knocks on the door to the apartment down the hall. "See you around, right?" He says.

"Yeah I guess so," She says before yawning. "Night soldier, and thanks again," She gave him a tired smile before walking into her apartment.

"Night Darcy," He called and watched her leave as she closed her door. He eyed the door for a moment and smiled to himself before the door in front of him opened.

"I'm sorry for the lateness of the hour ma'am but-"

"There you are Cappie," The elderly women said cheerfully. "Thank you so much young man," She says and takes him. He smiles and nods, and after saying goodnight he headed back to his apartment and minutes later found himself sitting in bed staring at the ceiling.

Images of Darcy were still in his mind. The way she smiled, he really liked her smile. And her laugh- that was something he knew he wasn't going to forget easily.

Staring at the ceiling a little longer he knew a few minutes later that it was going to be hard to fall asleep.

The way she talked to him made his face go red just thinking about it. She had called him handsome what- Twice? Not to mention he knew she had looked him up and down a few times. But for some reason that didn't seem to bother him like he thought it would.

Glancing at his night table he hesitated before grabbing the small worn out notebook and scribbled something down before placing it on the night table once again.

It took a couple minutes but he eventually did fall asleep. In the journal, he wrote on a new page:

 _How to get a girl's number?_

* * *

 _ **Ta da! I hope people like this story. My updating might vary, because I revise chapters over and over again. So if I don't update for a while, don't worry! I've probably just gotten a little writer's block :)**_

 _ **Big thank yous to:**_

 _ **PhoenixCawCaw**_

 _ **TeamPhoenix18**_

 _ **Katertots**_

 _ **Innocent-vessel**_

 _ **MyMuselsDead**_

 _ **Melibells**_

 _ **For inspiration, help writing, or just because your stories were that awesome I needed to thank you XD**_

 _ **I will try to update soon! Please fav/fol or leave a review! I would also like some writing advice if anyone has it.**_


	2. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter Two- Wrong Place, Wrong Time

 _ **Wow! Thanks for the amazing start guys! :D Really means a lot! I feel a lot better now XD**_

 _ **TeamPhoenix18: HUGE thanks for all the help with this story! You really made me realize I had nothing to be nervous about with trying to write one of my own stories, thank you so much for all the support and help you've given as well :) I owe you big time! XD**_

 _ **Alibird1: Thank you thank you thank you! I didn't think someone could make this a favorite so quickly with such little written so far ;) Hope you like this chapter!**_

 _ **Guest: I agree! Shieldshock forever! Hope you like this chapter!**_

* * *

 _Beep_

 _Beep_

 _Beep_

 _Beep_

Darcy grumbled dramatically as she pulled her head out from under her pillow, hair going every direction and dried drool stuck in the sides of her mouth.

Her hand slapped the nightstand several times as she tried her best to find the alarm clock until she groaned loudly and slammed her hand down on something, effectively knocking the alarm clock off the nightstand.

The beeping only commenced further and Darcy finally opened her eyes with a huff.

"Please let Monday be canceled" The brunette grumbled and sat up. Her eyes went to the alarm clock hanging off the night stand, seeing the date said Monday in capital letters. "God damn it!" The brunette groaned and flopped back down in bed.

Getting ready for a new day couldn't have been harder in Darcy's opinion. Jane needed her up bright and early to start preparations for the new job. Darcy was not a morning person. Period.

She'd rather be up at 1 in the morning than get up at 6 every morning for who knows how long now.

Within the next few minutes Darcy had made her way to the kitchen and the first thing done was starting a giant cup of coffee.

Within a few days Jane and Darcy would be visiting the tower about the final job decisions.

The brunette knew her boss was getting the job. If not, Thor would have some words for the others and Darcy could just Taser the shit out of whoever didn't agree with their arrival.

A knock took Darcy from her thoughts as she was sipping her coffee and she groaned under her breath before heading for the door. Her hand grasped the knob as she turned and pulled back on the door, seeing Jane standing there.

"You aren't even dressed?" Jane sighed and she walked in past her younger friend.

"I haven't had my damn coffee yet Jane." Darcy snapped grouchily. "It could be raining hell on earth before 7 am and I wouldn't give a shit until I finished my cup"

Jane came out of her bathroom with a brush in hand and placed it in her spare hand.

"We gotta start packing up supplies to send to the tower. We're gonna be meeting there on Friday"

"It's Monday" Darcy grumbled. "We have like, a lot of time" She sighs and tosses the brush on the couch before flopping down in an arm chair.

"You haven't even unpacked your clothes?" Jane was currently in Darcy's room eyeing the boxes in the corner.

"It's life! Lower your expectations!" Darcy yelled from the kitchen. "I got everything else unpacked"

"Get dressed and then you're gonna meet me outside the building" Jane says as she walks for the door. Darcy gives her a little salute as her older friend left the apartment. A grin crossed the brunette a face as she laughed.

"Not until I finish my breakfast you're not"

~0000~

Darcy walked out of the building about a half hour later, wearing leggings under a skirt, and a warm jacket with a scare. A usual hat was on her head as her ear buds were playing music by Fall Out Boy.

"A half hour," Jane gives her a ' _really?_ ' Look.

"It's Monday" Darcy shrugs as they both head towards the curb.

Jane waved down a taxi before looking back to her friend.

"Thor says hi by the way," She smiles. "He's looking forward to introducing us to the Avengers"

"I'm sure he is," Darcy laughs as they both get into a taxi. The younger brunette listened as Jane told the taxi driver where to go. The car began to move down the street and the slight vibrations could be felt through the seats.

"So..." Darcy turned to Jane as the older brunette spoke. "This neighbor of yours?" Jane raised an eyebrow suggestively and Darcy laughed.

"What about him?"

"Seen him since he saved you from wiping out on the staircase?" Jane looked amused.

"Yeah," Darcy rolls her eyes. "He found a little demon summoner in my apartment last night,"

"He was in your apartment?" Jane laughs. "At night. You seriously move faster than I would've taken you for," Jane says to herself and shifts where she sat before the older brunette's eyes went to the city landscape outside of her window.

"It's not like we had sex- although I wouldn't mind climbing that man like a tree- he just collected an older woman's cat from my apartment after I tasered him."

"You tasered the man?!" Jane exclaimed, looking at her quickly. "He seems a little too nice Darce-"

"But he's hot." Darcy makes clear, pointing up with a finger. "And he's adorably shy when I acknowledge his physical appearance,"

"You'll have to make sure this isn't some creep who's gonna break into your apartment when you're asleep,"

"I'll Taser him in the balls if that happens then," Darcy shrugs and Jane rolls her eyes with an amused smile.

~0000~

Several minutes later the taxi screeched to a stop and Jane gave the driver the money as Darcy climbed out of the car. Her blue eyes scanned the surrounding area, people were walking every direction, cars were naturally honking constantly and the sky was a light grey for that time of morning, the sun peeking out from the surrounding clouds.

"Darcy grab that box," The younger brunette turned at her friend's request and she just bit her lip as she walked back over to the trunk and grabbed the box sitting on the sidewalk.

"How many of these did you bring?" Darcy muttered. "My arms are still spaghetti from moving in yesterday"

"Just these two," Jane replies as she picked up the second box and closed the truck.

They both headed into the building where they were renting out a room for storage.

"Are the other boxes coming in?" Darcy questioned. "Cause I know for a fact we have more shit than this-"

"It's all being shipped. I just brought these two because I would've had to pay extra to have them fit" Jane replies as they walked into the building.

"Where?"

"Some of it Mr. Stark just had shipped to Stark Tower. The other equipment will be here in storage" Jane explains as they walk into an elevator.

"Gotcha," Darcy nods to herself and the elevator opened seconds later into a hallway. "What number?"

"Uh, 45" Jane responds after pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. The two brunettes made their way down the hall until they got to the correct room. Jane pulled out a card and opened the door, revealing an empty storage room with a couple shelves and then just open space.

"Lot a room for two boxes," Darcy mumbled and Jane only rolled her eyes.

"I was thinking we could grab lunch later?" Jane suggests as they set their boxes on one of the shelves. "Maybe walk around a bit and get a feel for the city"

"Would love to, but I gotta get to my new job" Darcy laughs. She had taken a waitress job in Brooklyn, just across the bridge. "I got a friend from college working there actually, she put a good word for me and I got the job"

"You better find time for the job we are currently working to get then" Jane says in return.

"Yeah yeah yeah. I got it all handled," The younger brunette laughs.

"Aright well, later this evening we should grab a bite then. Then we can run the equipment up to Stark Tower"

Darcy's head snapped over to her friends with confusion.

"Jane- I thought you said we weren't going to Stark Tower until Friday"

"I just need to drop some of the scopes off in the storage room there" Jane says. "We have a lot of different types of equipment going different places. So I'm gonna need a little help"

"I get off work at 5 so I'm free after that" Darcy shrugs.

"Alright then, I'll pick you up around 5:30 alright?" Jane's eyes went to her younger friends and the blue eyed brunette nodded as they both walked out into the hall.

~0000~

Darcy sighed as she walked into the restaurant, taking her coat off her headed straight for the kitchen and smiled when she saw her friend Caroline.

"There's the Taser Queen" Caroline laughed, looking over her shoulder.

"Damn right I am" Was Darcy's smug reply as she walked around the counter, tossing her coat onto a chair in the backroom before slipping her waitress apron on.

"Settled in yet?" Her blonde friend asked, turning to face her with her hands on her hips.

"Almost. I'm getting there" Darcy grumbled as she began to wash her hands in one of the sinks. "Got a hot neighbor"

"Oooooooo" Caroline wiggled her eyebrows suggestively as she walked over. "Do tell," She grinned and Darcy laughed.

"Tall, blonde, muscles, and a really damn good looking jaw" Darcy lists off. "Not lying about the jaw. It's one fine looking feature of his already good looking face,"

"Name?"

"Steve" The brunette says after drying her hands. "No last name at the moment but I intend to get it"

"You'll have to get a picture of him" Caroline laughs. Darcy smiles and nods.

"My mission," The two laugh before picking up orders at the front.

~0000~

After her shift at the restaurant, Darcy headed along with Jane to Stark Tower with the different types of scopes, as in telescopes. Darcy was warming up to her waitress job pretty well. It was a cute little diner on a corner and wasn't half bad looking, windows lined both walls in the corner shop and the room was painted in lighter colors, giving it a happy feel.

"This is the biggest garage I've ever seen" The younger brunette states as they both were walking along the stretched garage under Stark Tower.

"It's not little, that's for sure" Jane shrugs in agreement as they continued going. They made it to an elevator and Jane pressed the button.

" _May I ask why you request entry?_ " Jane's and Darcy's heads shot up at the accented voice coming from a speaker.

"Who's that?" Darcy squinted slightly and looked at the speaker.

" _I am Jarvis, an AI designed by Mr. Stark_ "

"Ok, um… I'm Jane Foster?" Jane starts slowly, exchanging a glance with Darcy. "And this is my assistant Darcy; we're dropping some equipment off. I have a meeting here Friday about the final decisions on a job opportunity"

" _Of course Dr. Foster, I apologize for the delay_ " They voice replies and the elevator doors open.

"Thanks Jarvis" Darcy smiles. That was pretty cool. Darcy wasn't one to be into fancy tech too much, but she had to admit that Jarvis was pretty cool.

Jane pressed the second floor up and the elevator closed before it began moving.

"This is a fancy elevator" Darcy states before looking around.

"It's Tony Stark, Darcy" Jane chuckled.

"True"

The elevator opened seconds later and the two women walked out and into the storage areas.

"We're in the second row" Jane nods to the shelves and Darcy nods before following, carrying two large stacked boxes. They had to assemble the scopes in here so they wouldn't get mixed up, or if something was to happen and parts were lost.

"Alright," Jane sighs as she places the boxes on the ground along the second low. Tons of other boxes and storage bins were lining the rows of shelves. "Let's start assembling" Jane smiles before opening one of the three boxes she had been carrying.

Darcy grumbles before getting down on the floor to help unpack.

~0000~

"I'm going home" Darcy says several hours later. Building telescopes wasn't exactly rocket science. But building Jane's telescopes was, considering she built them herself and they were extremely complex.

"Get some sleep" Jane says. "Same time tomorrow come over to my apartment. We gotta organize paperwork"

"Shit. I can't wait" Darcy put a hand through her hair and smiled sweetly and sarcastically before turning. "Night Janie" The blue eyed brunette smiled and Jane turned before smiling.

"Night Darce"

Darcy walked down several rows, row after row of shelves until she finally made it to the elevator which felt like it was over a mile away. She pushed the button and waited a few seconds with her arms crossed with her coat. It was chilly in the storage room. Probably a preservation necessity, she thought.

The doors opened and she was about to walk in when she stopped and saw someone already there. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw an American Icon in the elevator.

Steve stared wide eyed at Darcy and froze completely. What should he do? Hide his face? He had his helmet on still but he didn't know if she was still recognizing him after they met last night.

"A-Are you, uh- going up ma'am?" He stuttered over his words, trying to make his voice lower than it naturally was so she wouldn't recognize it. Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head.

"Down actually," Darcy says. "I can wait for the next one" She shrugs.

"No!" Steve blurts out slightly and then clears his throat. "It's alright, I can wait a few extra seconds" He smiles before stepping to the side, allowing her space to enter. Darcy looked at him for several seconds before smiling.

"Well thanks," She smiles before stepping in. He pressed the garage button since it was the only one below them and then he pressed a much higher floor. Darcy swallowed again as the door closed and the door closed soon after.

The silence was unbearable as the elevator shifted and they began going down.

"Y-You're uh- Captain America right?" Darcy asks, craning her neck to look up since they were standing kind of close. The man was seriously huge; his shoulder ratio took up half the space in the elevator as he had his hands rested on his belt. He was wearing his newer suit Tony designed.

"Yes ma'am" He smiled slightly and Steve tried his best to act natural. But seeing the new neighbor he had a slight crush on at his place of work caught him off guard. Even though he seriously barely knew her, Steve knew he wanted to get to know her better.

"That's cool" She smiles. "I'm Darcy" She holds out a small hand. He looks down at her hand and smiles before gripping it in his much larger and glove covered one.

"Nice to meet you Darcy, I'm-…" Steve hesitated a brief second. "Captain America" He says slightly awkwardly. Darcy laughs as she lets go of his hand that wearing fingerless leather gloves.

"I gotcha. Secret identify type of deal." She laughs and Steve shrugs before chuckling.

"That's one way to put it, yes" He gives her a smirk and Darcy felt her face heat up a bit. Wow, she was seriously blushing like a goddamn teenager in front of a superhero, a hot super hero if she might add.

The door opened and Darcy was both relieved and a little let down she was leaving.

"Nice to meet you Cap'n, and thanks for the service and stuff" Darcy smiled and gave him a little salute before walking out. Steve smiled amusingly and gave her a nod.

"Likewise Darcy, thank you" He replies as she turns and heads down the garage. Once she's turned back and heading away Steve lets out the breath he had been holding in and let his tense, tall posture slouch in a very non Captain America way as he lets himself fall against the elevator wall.

"That was close" He mumbles to himself after the door has closed and the elevator begins going up. Complete wrong place and wrong time to be in the elevator, way to go, Steve thought to himself.

Why was she here? Was she going to be working here? Because if so getting to know her better might be harder than Steve thought.

It didn't read as the door opened again and Steve heard a yell as Clint walked by.

"What happened Cap?" The archer asked, still in his suit as he walked to his locker. "Get lost in the garage?"

"Funny Clint" Steve says as he walks out and removes his helmet, running a hand through his hair before walking towards his own locker. "Hey- do we have anyone new coming to work at the Tower" He asks casually as he put his helmet in his locker.

"Not that I know of," Clint shrugs before turning back to the leader of the Avengers. "Why?"

Steve didn't turn for several seconds and smiled to himself before finally turned back to Barton who looked confused.

"No reason" He gives a nod and Clint shrugged before giving a nod in reply and walked away to go get changed. Steve smiled again to himself before he threw his gloves into his locker.

* * *

 _ **I hope you guys liked it! :) The support I've gotten is more than I originally anticipated on so thank you so so much! Means a lot coming from an extremely new writer XD**_

 _ **Notes: I like watching 2 Broke Girls so I put Caroline in the story. The diner they work at isn't the same one and I made Carline a college friend to make it fit a little better into the story. Hope that's ok :) The diner isn't like the one on the show again, it has lots of windows and maybe I can find a picture somewhere that'll let me explain it a bit better XD**_

 _ **Notes: Steve's suit is the one in Age of Ultron.**_

 _ **Notes: This is an alternate Universe, so we don't gotta worry about Captain America: Civil War, SHIELD falling, or Ultron taking over the world :) Hope that's alright too XD**_

 _ **I don't know when the next update will be but it hopefully will be soon :)**_

 _ **Review if you' liked the chap! :D**_


	3. Number

Chapter Three- Number

 _ **Wow! Thanks for the support everyone! I can't believe how many people like this :)**_

 _ **TeamPhoenix18: Thanks so much! There will be more interaction in this chapter :)**_

 _ **Racecz5: Thanks so much for the tips! I'll definitely be sure to take away some of the bore and make them a little more interesting. There will definitely be more interactions in this chapter and in future chapters.**_

 _ **Carolli: We'll have to see who Darcy falls for first! :D**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**_

 _ **Erohime928: I'm sorry! XD I'll see to it that I try to get chapters up quicker, hope you like this one!**_

 _ **Shika93: Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!**_

 _ **Guest: Thank you lots! Same!**_

 _ **Quick note, but I made a couple changes regarding the story, please see the end of the chapter for more information :)**_

* * *

"Jane I'm being serious" Darcy says, a slight annoyed expression on her face.

"I didn't say you weren't" Jane shrugs as she pulled another box from the corner and brought it into the living room. She placed it on the floor with a huff before standing up straight, her eyes circling the apartment briefly.

"Captain freaking America was _in_ the elevator!" She says, her voice a little quieter, like a loud whisper.

"Congrats, you met an avenger. Do you want a metal? We might be working there every day with the possibility of seeing them all the time" Jane laughs as she sat down criss cross on the floor. Darcy was sitting criss cross on the couch and watching Jane as she started removing stacks of papers from the box. Jane was eyeing the papers a while longer until she looked up at Darcy.

"… Was he cute?" She asks quietly. Darcy laughs and looks down at her brunette friend. "Cuter than your neighbor?" Jane asks, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"Steve?" Darcy asks and looks around the apartment for a moment. "I dunno," She smiles to herself and her finger starts to twirl a strand of hair. "No denying he's cute, but… He's no superhero" She says before squinting slightly.

"Ok then, which one would you rather wake up in bed with?" Jane says; her eyes narrowed slightly as she was reading through a packet.

"Way to be subtle Jane" Darcy laughs loudly, throwing her head back slightly. "Super hero. I mean- who wouldn't want to sleep with one? But if I gotta be realistic than, neighbor" She says with smile, her eyes suggesting her mind was somewhere else. "Wouldn't mind that man going down on me"

"Hm" Jane hums, not paying much attention as her eyes were still on the papers she was holding. "Who knows? Get to know this neighbor of yours and it could happen" Jane laughs. "I would more so approve of a relationship instead of a one night stand"

"Please" Darcy rolls her eyes. "He is _way_ out of my league" The younger brunette laughs. "I'd be delusional if I thought I had a chance in hell with that man,"

"Don't be so hard on yourself" Jane says, her eyes connecting with her friend's. "Any man would be lucky to have you"

Darcy only rolls her eyes before walking into the kitchen. Since Jane had brought the extra boxes of paperwork over they were both going through and organizing them. Well-… Jane was doing most of the work and Darcy was supervising, as she liked to call it.

"Thor will be stopping by if that's alright" Jane says.

"He knows where I live?" Darcy questions with a laugh.

"Sorry, I told him. Hope you don't mind" The older brunette gives her a smile. Darcy shrugs in reply as she grabbed a soda from her fridge before popping the lid off. "So this neighbor of yours, he live down the hall or on another floor"

"He's to the right and down the hall, opposite side" Darcy explains. "Why?"

"Curious" Jane merely shrugs before placing several papers into different piles. "Next time you see him you should see if he'd like to hang out" Jane says.

"I-s Uh- hm" Darcy chokes on her soda before her eyes met her friend's. "I didn't realize you were being serious" Darcy states.

"I was being completely serious" Jane laughs. "You haven't had a decent relationship with anyone since that Ian kid in London"

"You call _that_ a relationship?" Darcy laughs. "The idiot was too stubborn to try a long distance relationship and dumped me over text"

"Well-… That's beside the point. You need to get back out there, give someone a chance to get to know you"

"If you haven't noticed Jane, every time I open up to a guy it all goes to shit"

"You just haven't found the right one yet" Jane smiles before continuing to stack papers. Suddenly a knock on Darcy's apartment door prevented the younger brunette from generating another response.

"This better not be Ms. Jensen looking for her cat again" Darcy mutters as she walks towards her door. She swung it open and didn't hesitate to start her rant. "The cat ain't here Ms. Jensen, if I happen to see the darn thing I'll be sure to let you knooo- oh" Darcy's eyes widened at who was standing in front of her…. It wasn't Ms. Jensen.

"Yeah, I'm not Ms. Jensen" Steve laughs nervously, rubbing the back of this neck.

"Sorry Steve" Darcy blurts out. "I uh- thought it was her again. She's come over twice this morning"

Which was the truth. Ms. Jensen had been searching the halls for her cat again, asking neighbor after neighbor.

"Its fine, I uh" He holds out something and Darcy looks down at it. "My mail got mixed with yours so I figured I should bring it up"

"Mail?" She asks and didn't notice Jane had slowly gotten up and was peaking around the corner. "Where do we get the mail?" Her brow was furrowed as she looked up at him. "Sorry, thank you" She adds quickly, taking the mail with a smile.

Jane's mouth was slightly ajar as she watched out of sight. She had to admit he was cute.

"Oh," Steve turns his head quickly down the hall towards the elevator and stairs. "It's right in the lobby, just go to the right of the desk and it's down the hall. Just look for your room number" He smiles, fidgeting slightly where he was standing.

"Oh, alright. Thanks handsome" She smiles before tossing the mail onto the small table just inside the door.

"Hey-" Steve starts and then freezes slightly. Darcy looks back up at him. "I was wondering…" He starts, nervously sticking his hands into his pockets of his pants. "You seem like a really nice girl," He smiles and Darcy tried to hide her blush slightly. "We-I uh, n-not a girl, a dame- woman, uh" He breathes out and looks down as Darcy laughed slightly.

"You're cute" She chuckles, leaning against her door.

"Thanks." He states, his face bright red as he had his eyes on his feet with embarrassment. "I'd really like to get to know you better… If that's ok" He adds quickly. "That was subtle," He mutters to himself. "I uh," The man shakes his head before looking up with a forced smile, meeting her blue eyes. "… Yeah" He states, not knowing what to add.

"Totally yeah, I'd like that" Darcy smiles. "We could grab a coffee or something sometime?" She asks, eyeing him. His eyes lit up and he gave her a relieved smile.

"Yeah! Yeah, uh- I'll just stop by some time and we can figure out a good day?" He asks, backing up a few steps. Darcy smiles and nods in reply as she watched her neighbor slowly back down the hall.

"Ok," The brunette smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Or uh, I could just give you my number and we can text each other about a good day…?" She suggests, not wanting to be to pushy. "If that's ok with you,"

"No, that's fine" Steve smiled, some hopeful excitement on his face as he walked back over quickly. "I uh-…" His hands met the sides of his legs over his pockets before he looked up at her. "Don't have a pen or paper," He says slowly, his cheeks heating up slightly.

"Relax, it's not a felony" Darcy smiles before leaning into her apartment and grabbed a pen from the table she set her mail on. Grabbing his hand without hesitation she began to write her number down, smiling at the fact that he flinched when she first grabbed his hand.

Steve stood completely still as Darcy was carefully writing down her number and he looked up and around after a few seconds, not wanting to stare at her. His eyes landed on another woman that was in the apartment. She gave him a smile and a small wave. He gave her a small polite smile and a nod in return before Darcy sighed.

"There" Darcy gave him a smile and let go of his hand. Steve gave her a polite smile and a nod back. "Text me whenever, my phone is usually attached to me" Steve looked down at the writing on his palm briefly.

 _Darcy:_ _555-0157_ _  
:)_

"Thank you for uh, bringing my mail up" A laugh escapes her lips.

"It's no trouble" The man gave her a nod and also gave her a smirk which only pulled at one corner of his lips, making her stomach flutter slightly. Steve started to back down the hall until he reached his own apartment.

Once Darcy and Steve exchanged a small wave and the brunette closed her door she leaned against it with a slight sigh and clutched her mail to her chest.

"You weren't kidding" Jane admits, nodding slightly to herself as she was holding a stack of papers. "I admit he's cute"

"Still think he isn't out of my league?" Darcy deadpans, walking over with her mail.

"He made the first move" Jane points out. "And as shy as he was acting, that was probably hard for him to do" The older brunette adds with a laugh.

"I guess that's kinda true…" She trails off. But seconds later she shook her head. "Whatever, he just wants to get to know me a little better. I mean- I did Taser him. Don't wanna make it awkward every time I see him"

"Whatever you say" Jane sighs, catching the narrow eyes Darcy directed at her.

~0000~

Steve closes the door to his apartment behind him before leaning against it. A smile appeared on his face and he let out a deep sigh of relief.

For someone known for not being able to talk to women, he was quite proud of himself.

Steve was taken out of his thoughts when the phone suddenly rang from the other side of the room. Quickly, Steve walked across the room in only a few strides and picked it up.

"Rogers" He mumbled.

"Trouble Cap, we need you up here stat" It was Clint.

"Be there in a few Barton, thanks" The soldier replied before ranging up. He grabbed his leather jacket that was on the coat rack and quickly walked back towards the door.

…

"What's the problem?" Steve asked, going full Captain America mode as he walked out of the elevator and into the locker room area, seeing Clint Barton, Sam Wilson, and Tony Stark.

"We got problems in Russia" Sam says to him, putting on his tactical vest that went under his Exo-7 Falcon suit. "Group of Mercenaries that stole some SHIELD tech"

"How bad?" Steve asked, walking towards his locker. Sam breathed out before looking at him.

"Possible hostage situation, although they haven't made a move it's definitely a possibility" Sam explains. Steve nods before grabbing his helmet and gloves from the top portion of the locker. His suit, taken apart was in the bottom section of the locker.

"Alright," Steve breathes before taking his leather jacket off, placing it in the locker on a hook towards the back. "We'll scout out the area, 5 mile diameter, make a nice perimeter, slowly work our way in until we find the-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Sam cuts him off and grabs his hand. "What's this?" Steve tries to refuse to show him his hand but Sam forced his palm up right, exposing the cell number. "Shit! You gotta chick's number?" He laughed.

"No- I, it's just a" Steve gets cut off before he can make up an excuse.

"Cap's got a girl finally?" Tony butts in.

"About damn time man," Clint adds.

"It's just my neighbor's number!" He makes clear. "Strictly friends- not even yet. We just met like yesterday" He says quickly. "Day before yester- whatever!" He makes clear as he was taking his shoes off. "Not the time to talk about it" He makes clear in an orderly tone.

"Well don't expect us to forget about this. We're gonna have a serious talk about this afterwards" Tony says. "We'll need to give you a 21st century catch up on dating"

"Tony!" Steve snaps warningly. "Drop it" His tone got a little lower and it was obvious that he was getting annoyed rather quickly.

"Chill Capslock," Tony put a hand out. "Don't get your spandex in a twist, we'll sort all this out for you when we get back"

Steve immediately looked at Sam. Not sure as to why he did but Sam shot Tony a bit of a look a few seconds later. Although Steve's new suit, which Tony had actually designed, wasn't spandex at all- the Stark stilled loved using the name to make fun of their Captain after the suit SHIELD have given him when he came out of the ice.

"Let's get the jet going birdbrain" Tony announces to Barton, and the archer grabs his bow before following the billionaire out.

Sam merely glanced at Steve before slipping his exo-7 suit on, tightening the straps over his shoulders.

"So, this girl Darcy"

"How'd you know her name?" Steve asked in confusion, his head whipping around to the other man.

"It's written on your hand asshole" Sam states before pushing Steve's hand in front of his face for him to see Darcy written there along with her number in pen.

'Oh uh- yeah." Steve says before once again turning to face his locker, doing his best to avoid his friend in hope he'd drop the subject of Darcy.

"What's she like?" Sam casually leans against the lockers to Steve's right, looking to his right at the Captain.

"Sam." He states, his tone a little firmer. Sam merely waves a hand.

"Got it, we'll talk about it later" He laughs before patting his shoulder and walked towards the door. Steve huffed in a tired manner before his eyes traveled over the locker room. As excited as he was to have her number so soon, he wasn't exactly up to show everyone so soon.

Not to mention he hadn't actually gotten a girl's number before. Closest thing he ever had to a date was the double dates Bucky set him up with back in the 40's. The dame Bucky paired him with always ignored him but he was still respectful none the less.

Now he finally got this far on his own… He just wished Buck was there to see it. Knowing there was hope he might one day have his friend back... He just didn't want to get his hopes up to high in fear that he may never get that back in the first place.

Steve clenched his jaw as he pushed those thoughts away and continued to remove his suit from the locker before throwing it on the bench behind him.

* * *

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed the third chapter of this story :) Next chapter will have some Darcy and Captain America interactions for a little spoiler.**_

 _ **I hope this chapter wasn't as boring as the last, although it was a bit shorter than the last one. I intend to have the next one be longer as well as less boring**_

 _ **NOTE! This is the change I have made. 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' has happened already. But SHIELD has risen again and Fury is back to being Director, Coulson is still alive, there was no hiding it after New York. A little hint but…. Since Civil War will not be happening we might see a certain someone eventually… :D The Avengers aren't part of SHIELD, but some words with Fury are shared every now and then.  
**_

 _ **Please review if you liked it or let me know about any suggestions on making this story better and more enjoyable. :)**_


	4. Oops

Chapter 4- Oops

 _ **Up a little later than I had originally planned, but at least it's up now! :D**_

 _ **horseluvr00: Thanks so much! I do intend to ;)**_

 _ **Teamphoenix18: Thanks for the support :D Hope you like this chapter**_

 _ **Carolli: Thank you! :) And you'll have to see where this chapter leads! *evil laughter***_

 _ **WeasleyLover123: Well thank you! Hope this chapter was up quick enough! :D**_

 _ **Guest: I'm glad you like it! HI URUGUAY! XD**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks! That really gives me a boost! I'm flattered! :)**_

 _ **Guest: Who knows! :D Since Civil War had so many feels and it won't be happening... Perhaps Steve and Sam will find the Winter Soldier quicker than they originally thought! We'll have to wait and see!**_

 _ **Zoey24: I do too! XD I'm hoping she will myself, constructing this story as i go along! Hope you enjoy :)**_

* * *

"How about a hint" Tony pushes. Steve just clenches his jaw, keeping his arms crossed firmly as he stares at the ground. "Just a small-"

"Stark I swear to god you ask me one mor-"

"Ok!" Clint announces, and looks back at the arguing men. "Enough about Cap's mystery girl, I think Jarvis has something on a possible location"

"Jarvis? Mind explaining?" Tony questions; walking forward to the front of the jet.

" _It appears there is increased activity about 2 miles north of our current location. The weapon signature has increased readings in the area_ "

"That's gotta be it," Sam clears his throat as he took a few steps forward, standing alongside Steve who looks to his friend before looking at the Stark.

"Alright Jarvis, lead the way"

" _As you wish sir_ "

 _~0000~_

It is several hours later that Darcy hears another knock on her door, this one much louder and quick.

"God" The younger brunette mumbles as she rises to her feet.

"Got any other neighbors you should warn me about?" Jane smiles, watching her friend head for the door.

"Yeah, not yet" Darcy laughs and grasps the door knob before opening it. Her eyes met a chest and she has to look up in order to see Thor standing before her.

"Sister Darcy!" He laughs deep before picking her up in a crushing hug.

"Just Thor, Jane" Darcy squeals at the strength of the hug as he lifts her off the ground, her feet kicking slightly.

"How is my Jane" As Thor sets the blue eyed brunette down Jane rises to her feet and meets Thor in the opening of the apartment.

"I missed you" She smiles, welcoming his embrace. They both share a sweet kiss seconds later and Darcy does not hesitate to ruin the moment by fake gagging in the background.

"Stop getting lovey dovey in my house. Out" Darcy announces, gesturing towards the door. The two step away from each other and Jane rolls her eyes.

"We're all leaving Darce" Jane reminds her, but notices Darcy walking away groaning under her breath.

"Who is there at the moment?" The curiosity could be noticed in Jane's eyes and Thor smiles before he looks around for a brief moment.

"Pepper, Natasha, Rhodes, Doctor Banner…" He trails off. "The others will be back soon" The Norse god adds. His girlfriend only nods in reply before her eyes met her assistant's.

"We leaving now?" Darcy merely grumbles, grabbing her soda.

"I don't see why not" Thor flashes another charming smile as Jane holds the hand of the arm that was around her shoulders.

 _~0000~_

"Coming up on the drop zone guys" Clint calls back. "Cap, Wilson, you guys ready?"

"All set" Sam announces, his eyes met the Captain's who was taking his shield from his back.

"Ready Barton, you can lower the ramp" Steve calls back. It took only seconds for the archer to act as he activated the ramp and the light shines in as it began lowering. Steve squints slightly while Sam looks on, his tactical goggles protecting his eyes from the rays of light.

As soon as the ramp was completely down, Steve hops into a jog and runs down the ramp before jumping off, falling towards the ground below. Sam merely huffs and stops before looking back at Clint and Tony who was in his suit.

"Dude doesn't even hesitate" He mutters before walking off and lets himself twirl slightly on his heel before he started to fall back. Keeping his arms at his sides he activated the wings seconds later and began flying down towards Cap, who was still falling, his arms and legs out slightly to slow the speed just slightly.

As the ground grew closer, Steve reaches a hand up and Sam grasps it before levelling them out. As they level out with the ground, 30 feet or so in the air, a base came into view on the side of a cliff with several cars and hostiles outside. A river below running below the rocks was heading north, the water icy and cold.

Seconds later Sam let's go of him and Steve holds his shield in front of him as he falls towards the group of people. He hits one, causing the person to fly back into a wall as he rolled across the ground before gracefully jumping to his feet.

"On the ground" Steve announces into his com link on his wrist. "You comin down today Stark?"

"For you information old man I'm already here" Steve eyes the man in the iron suit as he flew around the building, shooting a small missile at a big truck several dozen feet in front of Steve. "Jarvis? Got info on a specific location"

A boom shakes the surrounding area as the missile hits the truck, causing several people, along with the truck, to fly into the air.

" _There is a basement below the west building with spiked readings on the stolen SHIELD weapons_ "

"Great, Barton, let me poke it with something"

"Negative, we need it intact or else Fury will have our heads"

"That's a real fucking pain in my ass" Tony mutters, flying around the building before he shoots at several people, effectively knocking them out before he lands just outside the building.

"Language!" Steve snaps over the com as he throws his shield at an oncoming motorcyclist and watches as the shield hits, throwing the biker from the vehicle as he crashes to the ground.

"Sorry dad" Tony mocks, hearing Sam's laugh over the com.

"Need any back up Tony?" Sam asks as he flies around the building, up the cliff and spins as he appears before several men, shooting them all down with ease.

"All set here bird, I'll let you know if it changes" Tony was already making his way through the building, taking out all oncoming hostiles.

"Stark try to keep them alive" Steve warns, currently combating three men. It took seconds for him to get the upper hand, punching one, knocking the other off his feet, and throwing the other against a SUV.

"Where's the fun in that"

"Stark" Steve snaps.

"Steve, I could use a hand with the morons on the roof" Sam grumbles, dodging from the machine gunners on the roof of the south building around the corner.

"I'm on it" Steve breathes before running towards his friend's location. "Barton? How's the view up there" The soldier heads for the double doors and slowing down slightly as he jogs to a stop before lifting a foot, kicking the door open before hesitantly stepping inside, spotting a spiral metal stair case heading up, gun fire could still be heard.

"All good up here Cap'n. No reinforcements incoming. Looks like this is it"

"Wouldn't that be nice? We might even make it home before the Game of Thrones episode tonight" Tony chuckles and a cry along with a fire from his suit can be heard in the background.

"Way to keep the chipper mood" The annoyance could be heard in Steve's voice. He was not one for small talk on the battle field. A few words might have been shared from time to time, but his soul focus was on the fight.

Now if you were to go back in time 70 or so years, back when the Captain was fighting a much different fight from the one presently, it was different then. Having the Howling Commandoes by his side along with his best friend Bucky, it was like having family on the battle field. Always cracking wise-ass jokes, making fun of each other, it was all fun and games for them. But when the time came, they all would become serious and made getting the job done the priority.

Steve runs up the stairs of the building and is met by several armed men. Using his super soldier agility and reflexes he manages to dodge shots and blows while equally delivering his own. Several gunmen lined the edge of the building and after knocking the last man down the stairs he runs towards the rest.

Throwing his shield at the man on the left he slides towards one, knocking his feet out from under him before jumping to his feet in time to catch his shield. Several of the lined gunmen start to notice him and they turn their guns on him, firing at him. Steve holds up his shield, defecting the bullets as he tries to move to the side but is receiving gun fire from three different angles.

"Sam? You open?" Steve calls into his com, not intentionally distracting the gunmen from his friend.

"Yeah, thanks Cap. On my way" Sam calls back, flying towards the building. Steve's eyes caught something to his right on his exposed side where no one originally had been standing. He spots an individual coming up the stairs, his eyes specifically locating the grenade launcher in his hands.

"Sam!" He called, backing up slightly with receiving gun fire from multiple angles and also the threat of a fired grenade.

The man raises his weapon and Steve's head jerks to the side, eyes widening as the weapon is fired and he quickly holds his shield up protectively in front of his chest and face as the force of the blast hit his shield and knocked him off the side of the building.

"Shit!" Sam curses and Steve barely gets a glimpse of him before he smacks something and felt a burning feeling of sudden cold and icy water surrounding him. It feels like hitting brick as he is completely submerged and he tries to shake the pounding in his head as he slowly opens his eyes. The water was numbing and burned his face and hands as he tries to swim up, the weight from his armor and shield making it difficult, the temperature of the water making matters worse.

Without warning, Steve begins to feel his heart beat speeding up drastically and the familiar feeling of cold and icy water started to creep over him in an eerie and unpleasantly recognizable way. Flashes of his memories, crashing into the artic start to take over and post-traumatic stress wasn't exactly something he wanted to deal with at the moment.

It was a jolt as he's suddenly grabbed and pulled from the water, out and into the air before he's flown towards the now secure clearing.

Sam set him down and quickly lands, walking around to face him.

"You alright man?" The concern is clear on the other soldier's face as Steve waves a hand, coughing up a bit of water.

"Yeah, thanks" Steve breathes before making himself get to his feet, stumbling slightly.

"Stop fooling around out there guys, found the weapon" Tony says over the com seconds later as he flies out of a window of the building and up into the air, circling the area as he decides to fire a missile at the building Steve had been on moments before. Steve felt his shoulders slump as the boom echoed, as well as the cries from the men who had been up there.

"Real nice job Tony" Steve sighs, his eyes now on the ground.

"You flatter me Rogers" Tony grins as he lands several feet away, holding a strap that secured a box, setting it down first before he touches down. "Truly, your comments just warm my heart"

"Package ready for extraction?" Clint speaks up and they can hear the jet above, the stealth on to keep the jet hidden.

"It is feathers, and so are we so I'd make a landing"

"I'll call it in, a SHIELD team will come pick up the mess with an ETA of 30 minutes"

"Fantastic" Tony seems quite pleased with himself as he easily begins to drag the crate further into the clearing.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asks, once again turning his attention on the Captain.

"Fine Sam, thanks" He put a hand on his friend's shoulder before both pairs of eyes met that of a jet as it landed several yards away. The ramp came down and Tony drags it even further forward before stopping briefly.

"Load er up Stark," Clint calls back. As Tony once again begins to drag the crate up the ramp as Steve and Sam begin walking forward as well.

 _~0000~_

"So who was on this… mission" Darcy was curious. There was no hiding that.

Thor smiles at her questions and chuckles.

"Well. Stark, Captain Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Clint Barton left this morning" He replies, his eyes scanning the communal area of Stark Tower as they walk out of the elevator.

"Are they coming back today?" Darcy asks, pushing a bit further. "Like- what kind of mission were theeeyy-…." Darcy's widen as she actually looks around at the room before her. "H-Holy shit" She gapes, spinning around as she spots out the room. "You actually live here?!"

"Indeed" Thor chuckles, his arm around Jane's waist. "Remolded slightly after The Battle of New York, but… It has stayed mostly the same"

A woman with red hair, wearing a black blazer, skirt, and black heels walks out of the elevator only minutes later, seeing the small group chatting.

"Ah, Pepper" Thor smiles as he turns. "This is Jane" A smile was clear on the man's face, one of pride and excitement.

"I've heard so many good things about you" A small laugh escapes Pepper's lips as they shake hands.

"So glad to finally meet you" Jane smiles. "This is my friend Darcy"

The younger brunette hurries over and gives a small wave, most of her attention focused on her surroundings.

"I hear you two may be working here?" Pepper smiles, eyeing the two brunettes.

"Hoping" Jane says, some shyness in her voice but overall still calm and natural. "It would be nice to not be isolated all the time" She laughs.

Pepper nods knowingly and she chuckles. "I know what you mean,"

"I was going to show them around" Thor clears his throat politely. "In hopes to get them acquainted before they move in?"

"You mean when _she_ moves in" Darcy nods to her boss, her ear buds now in and her phone in hand.

"Of course, make yourself at home" Pepper smiles before she begins to walk towards the dining room table.

"Would you like to see where you'll be working?" Thor questions, looking down at the brunette. Jane looks up at her boyfriend and smiles before laughing.

"You know, I don't have the job yet" Jane reminds him.

"But you will" He gives her an adorable and childlike grin as they walk towards the elevator, Darcy walks also as she is still eyeing her phone and blindly following.

 _~0000~_

Sam has been eyeing Steve with minor concern for most of the ride back to the Tower. He recognized the look on his face, that thousand-yard stare and fidgety, tense posture.

"What happened" Sam states to his friend. He knew those looks from work; he did in fact use to work at the VA. He had worked with many soldiers with PTSD and knew the symptoms and signs of someone struggling with their past.

Steve slowly looks up to meet the other soldier's eyes but refuses to answer for several seconds.

"Nothing, I'm fine" He sums up before shuffling his hands slightly, his left leg bouncing gently against the floor. Sam could see the tenseness in his face and posture still showing and didn't back down.

"Don't bullshit me Cap, what happened. Flashbacks? Memories?"

"Whoa, wait. Hold on, why can he cuss?" Tony demands, overhearing the curse word leave Sam's lips.

"Don't worry alright? I'm fine" Steve replies, his voice a little firmer. The man's eyes slowly met the floor and he sighs before he nods, his arms crossed over his chest. Steve wasn't an extremely open person at times. Usually he was, but there were times where he was as stubborn as a mule.

"You can talk about it if you need to" Sam finally says, seeing the little nod Steve gave in reply as he began to pull his gloves off. It was when Steve abruptly froze that Sam looks back over.

"No no no no no" Steve mutters quickly under his breath before quickly looking his hands over.

"What wrong?" Sam's brow furrows as he eyes his friend's change in behavior.

"Cap?" Clint calls back, overhearing the change in tone.

"Come on" The soldier breathes before he squints to eye the now smudged pen ink on his hand.

"Is that your girl's number" Sam asks slowly, leaning in to see, one eyebrow rose.

"Sa- she's not my girl" Steve snaps before standing, walking towards the cock pit to get more light.

"You idiot, you lost her number?" Tony laughs slightly, looking over the Captain's shoulder. Steve waves a somewhat threatening hand back to shoo the billionaire away before he looks his hand over again.

"Could this day possibly get any worse" Steve mutters to himself before huffing,

"Gives you another excuse to go see her" Clint shrugs after a few seconds, his eyes briefly meeting the Captain's.

"We need to give you a serious education in dating, Cap'n" Tony makes clear after a few seconds and Steve only mutters under his breath before retreating his original seat, dreading what was to come.

 _~0000~_

"And make sure you wait around 48 hours or so" Sam adds. "Too soon and she'll think you're some freakin weird stalker, too late and she'll think you forgot"

"She lives 15 feet down the hall Sam" Steve reminds him firmly.

"Your Avenging life isn't a normal one Cap. And for the love of god, reconsider living in that old apartment. You have a perfectly good floor in the Tower"

"Tony-" Steve starts with a huff. Steve had a very high tolerance, patience wise… Most of the time.

"We're back" Clint calls back quickly and lowers the ramp, giving Steve a head start to hurry off. As expected, the soldier didn't hesitate to grab his gloves, placing his shield on his back before he hastily exited the jet and headed towards the stairs.

"Wait up Cap! We aren't done giving you a lesson" Tony laughs from behind him, Sam's laugh following.

Steve was somewhat ticked off, one for losing Darcy's number by being literally blown off a cliff into an icy river, and two for Tony and Sam's attempt of giving him a lesson in dating. Which Steve felt he did not need in the first place. The soldier liked to think he learned enough form the double dates Bucky dragged him along on.

"You alright man?" Sam suddenly appears beside him and Steve gives him a reassuring smile.

"Fine, just tired" Steve give him the first excuse off the top of his head as he grip his gloves in his other hand.

"Listen, I know when it comes to the plane crash, you get a little closed off but- If you wanna talk, don't hesitate to let me know, ok?"

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you" Steve says, this time meaning it more than he had on the jet. He knew Sam was just trying to help, and that he really did care. But that wasn't a topic Steve took lightly.

"We're a family Rogers, gotta open up to family at some point" Tony points out, walking past the two soldiers with Clint following. Steve only shakes his head slightly, breathing out through his nose.

"Who's that?" Sam suddenly speaks up. Steve looks up at the question and as they walk into the communal area, they see two girls along with Thor.

Steve eyes the two women briefly and sees one of them turn slightly and he makes an abrupt stop and freezes.

"Cap?" Sam speaks up, slowly looking back at his friend. Clint and Tony stop as well and look back

"My friends!" Thor suddenly announces with a deep laugh. "I must introduce you to my beloved Jane and lightning sister Darcy!"

Clint hears the name 'Darcy' and slowly looks to Steve with a rose eyebrow and grin on his face. Steve stands frozen in place, gripping his gloves like a life line.

Sam could see the look Clint was giving the Captain and decided to play along.

"C'mon Cap. Let's say hi" Sam mutters before pulling the fellow soldier along towards the three people. Tony, Clint, and Sam see the two girls with Thor. One had lighter straight brown hair and brown eyes while the other had dark wavy brown hair and blue eyes.

"This is Jane"

"We know who you are" Tony chuckles, eyeing the brunette Thor currently had an arm around. "But we do not, know of this young lady you brought with you" Tony quickly adds, his eyes now on Darcy.

"I'm the assistant. I wouldn't expect you to" Darcy states plainly, not at all seeming to be fazed by the billionaire.

"This is Darcy Lewis" Thor explains. Sam exchanges a look with Steve who gave him a long hard glare in return to not try any shit.

"Long time no see, Captain" Darcy speaks up after a few seconds, picking Steve out slightly. "Was kinda hoping seeing you the first time wouldn't be the last" She smiles, eyeing him now. Sam and Clint, along with Tony knew by their Captain's sudden tense and nervous posture, this was Darcy. _The_ Darcy. His neighbor Darcy. The Darcy's number that he lost.

"Good to see you ma'am" Steve replies with a curt nod, offering a polite smile, his hands rested on his belt and his gloves still in his grasp. Tony laughed at Steve's sudden low voice and his desperation to hide himself slightly. "Or uh, Darcy" He smiles, then remembers how Darcy had asked him before not to call her ma'am. But that wasn't him, that was Steve. She didn't know this side of him.

"You know me too well" She chuckles before her eyes met her phone again.

"I must continue giving them a tour of the Tower" Thor concludes the brief conversation. "I will be back soon my friends"

"Chow" Clint calls, making a bee line for the kitchen.

As soon as the three people walk into the elevators and the doors close- Tony, Clint, and Sam all stop what they're doing and look at Steve with knowing looks.

"What an incredibly spectacular turn of events" Tony states, his Stark tablet in hand as he had snatched it from the table.

''Stark I am not in the mood" Steve sighs as he takes his helmet off and runs a hand through his hair.

"She doesn't know who you are does she" Clint laughs after a few seconds.

"No" Steve snaps. "And believe it or not, I'd like to keep it that way for now"

"You're not the best liar Steve. That might not be a wise decision on your part" A female voice says from the couches and the men look over to spot Natasha Romanoff rise from her seat, a book in hand.

"Hey babe" Clit smiles, walking towards her, the original conversation now in the back of his mind.

"Thanks Nat" Steve mutters before looking back down at his hand.

"Get into any trouble" Natasha asks the archer, gripping his chin to look over and possible injuries.

"Unfortunately not this time" The archer gave her a goofy grin and she rolls her eyes before she gives him a small peck on the lips.

"What you gotta do is lead her on a bit" Tony says in Steve's direction. "Keep her guessing and don't give her too much attention-"

"These boys trying to tell you how to treat a lady, Rogers?" Natasha turns her attention back to the Captain.

"Key word being trying?" Steve adds in question, receiving a glare from Tony.

"I'll show you the right way" She makes clear, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in the direction of the other men. "C'mon" She gestures to the elevator. "We can talk about it over a spar match"

"Gonna let her kick your ass Rogers?" Tony asks.

"Don't go easy on her just because she's a lady" Sam reminds.

"She can hold her own" Clint says in Sam's direction.

"Yeah, I know that" Sam laughs. "Let us know how it goes!" He calls after as Natasha and Steve head into the elevator.

 _~0000~_

Steve slowly pulls his room key out of his pocket with a sigh. It had been a crazy day, which had its ups and downs. The only 'up' being seeing Darcy, if he was honest with himself.

Natasha did give him good tips on how to treat women while they had a few friendly sparing matches. And he already knew to trust her word over Tony's. Natasha usually never steered him wrong. They had a very healthy brother-sister relationship which was something Steve never had growing up. Only Bucky who was like his big brother.

As he slowly enters his apartment, he tosses his pair of keys on the kitchen counter before peaking back out into the hall. He did not want to go to sleep knowing he could have ruined his chances of getting to know his neighbor better. He'd rather end the day on a good note.

Remembering Natasha's words, he hesitantly walks down the hall and towards Darcy's apartment. Natasha made it clear, that he shouldn't be afraid to ask anything. She had told him that it was better to ask for the lady's permission than for her forgiveness, which was something Steve almost immediately took to heart. Respect was something he held high.

As his fist knocks quickly and gently on the door he waits patiently to hear a sign that she might be home. It surprisingly did not take long as the door swung open seconds later and a smiling Darcy was now looking up at him.

"Hey soldier!" She gives him a beautiful, white smile.

"Darcy," He greets with an equally happy smile. "I uh, I'm sorry to ask again" He starts, rubbing his neck nervously. "But I lost your number" He says slowly, wincing slightly in hopes that she wouldn't snap at him for not taking better care of it. He shows her his hand and Darcy eyes it before a laugh fell from her lips.

"It's cute how shy you are when you're nervous. It's all good" She makes clear. "I'll write it on paper this time ok?" She adds with a hopeful smile. Steve nods eagerly in reply; excitement could be seen on his face as Darcy walks away quickly.

She returns only moments later, this time jotting something down on a piece of paper.

"Ok," An amused and delighted smile was on Darcy's face as she continues writing. "How'd you lose it? If you don't mind me asking" She laughs, half her attention on writing, but the good portion open to listen.

"Oh uh," Steve merely chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck again before he places a hand through his hair. "Water" He states openly.

"Washing your hands?" She chuckles, her voice flat.

"Let's go with that" Steve offers, a somewhat nervous and questionably smile on his face that made Darcy giggle slightly before she covers her mouth with a hand and clears her throat.

She just giggled. _What the fuck brain!?_ She curses to herself in her head. Darcy didn't giggle. She just wasn't a giggler in front of men. This was definitely a first.

Getting out of her thoughts the blue eyed brunette hands him the paper.

"Thank you _so_ much" Steve sighs, clutching the paper in both hands. "I swear I will not lose it this time" The man makes clear with a chuckle before looking down at the paper.

 _Darcy's #  
_ _555-0157_ _  
Lose it again, you know where to find me :)_

"It's no problem" Darcy flashes him another smile. "Kinda like having you stop by now and again, nice highlight in my day"

Steve eyes her for several moments, lost in her deep blue eyes and cherry red lips when he clears his throat, not quick enough to hide his now reddening face.

"T-Thank you" He says while clearing his throat before backing up slightly. "I'll ca- text you!" He corrects as he makes his way back towards his apartment.

"I look forward to it" A somewhat shy smile was on the brunette's face as she closes the door seconds later, her eyes now facing her apartment.

"My god it just got hot in here" She states before shredding her sweatshirt, flopping down on the couch.

This guy seriously was more serious than she originally thought. Most guys that wanted her number would indeed get it, but if they lost it they would almost never try to get it again. Most would in fact 'lose' it on purpose. But this guy. Her neighbor. He was respectful, polite, sweet, and shy as hell. Darcy couldn't help but harbor a growing crush on him.

* * *

 _ **That was a longer chapter there for you :) I hope people liked it…? Possibly? Review if you want, its nice hearing your all's opinions! :D**_


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